California bill could create sanctuary state for non-felon illegal immigrants

By Cristina Corbin
Published July 05, 2012
FoxNews.com

California lawmakers are considering a new bill that could create a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants seeking protection from Arizonas strict immigration law.

The Transparency and Responsibility Using State Tools, or TRUST Act, which is currently making its way through the California legislature, would prohibit local law enforcement from turning over illegal immigrants for deportation except for those with serious felony convictions.

Debate over the bill comes after the nation's highest court last month upheld the most controversial provision of the Arizona immigration law -- requiring local police to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally. Federal immigration officials have said they will be selective in responding to those calls and have already moved to shield some categories of illegal immigrants nationwide from deportation, but the provision is still on the books in Arizona.

Critics of the California measure call it a "huge mistake," even dangerous. But proponents say local law enforcement should not be entangled in enforcing federal immigration law.

The Trust Act is a good idea for California because we want to position ourselves as the anti-Arizona, said Angela Chan, a senior staff attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, a San Francisco-based civil rights organization in support of the bill.

Chan also said the Trust Act, sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco, seeks to remedy what she described as problems with the Obama administrations Secure Communities program, which lets local jails conduct immigration checks on everyone who is arrested. The federal program has led to the deportation of thousands of illegal immigrants  many of whom have no criminal records  and has been fiercely criticized by civil rights activists.

Seven of the 10 people deported under this program have no criminal convictions, Chan told FoxNews.com.

An ICE spokeswoman, however, disputed that statistic, saying the actual numbers are reversed -- that nearly 75 percent of people deported through Secure Communities have one or more criminal convictions.

Chan said the programs implementation has resulted in an undercutting of community policing, meaning immigrant residents may be afraid to call local law enforcement if they are witnesses or victims of a crime out of fear of deportation.

The trust act will rebuild the communitys confidence in law enforcement, added Jon Rodney of the California Immigrant Policy Center.

But critics of the Trust Act argue it will force local police to release individuals without conducting a thorough enough background check on them, running the risk of letting some very dangerous people" slip through the cracks.

This is a huge mistake, said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies.

It benefits mainly the illegal aliens who are here committing crimes and makes it much harder for federal and local law enforcement agencies to protect people who have to live with the illegal aliens who are creating the crime, Vaughan told FoxNews.com. The local law enforcement agency may not know what convictions or other offenses are on that persons record. They may not know who that person really is unless they hold that person long enough for DHS to check their record.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy D. "Lee" Baca is also opposed to the bill, saying through a spokesman that he does not believe it will pass.

"He believes that (Secure Communities) must do better and will do better, but this is not the right way to do that," Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whittmore told FoxNews.com.

The Trust Act, which was already passed by the California state Assembly, awaits a vote by the state Senate.

That's simple to figure out George. If the illegals were not here then police wouldn't have this problem of illegals not coming forward to report crimes against other illegal immigrants.

As for capitalism crossing borders, that's simple also. Trade does not have anything to do with labor. Trade for products made in mexico to come to the U.S. and be sold are set up in trade agreements with the U.S. . Trade capitalism is for manufactured products to be sold and not people.

Labor consists of people doing the work to produce the manufactured product for wages. Trade capitalism has absolutely nothing to do with labor. If you have a problem understanding this you may want to go talk to some black U.S. citizens that are decendants of people that were used for trade labor.

P.S. We also don't know who is coming into the U.S. and the overflow of people creates demand that hasn't been met causing consumer prices to to rise especially with public utilities and gasoline. (Illegals still drive without a license and very few compared to the illegal population in the U.S. get busted).

That's simple to figure out George. If the illegals were not here then police wouldn't have this problem of illegals not coming forward to report crimes against other illegal immigrants.

As for capitalism crossing borders, that's simple also. Trade does not have anything to do with labor. Trade for products made in mexico to come to the U.S. and be sold are set up in trade agreements with the U.S. . Trade capitalism is for manufactured products to be sold and not people.

Labor consists of people doing the work to produce the manufactured product for wages. Trade capitalism has absolutely nothing to do with labor. If you have a problem understanding this you may want to go talk to some black U.S. citizens that are decendants of people that were used for trade labor.

P.S. We also don't know who is coming into the U.S. and the overflow of people creates demand that hasn't been met causing consumer prices to to rise especially with public utilities and gasoline. (Illegals still drive without a license and very few compared to the illegal population in the U.S. get busted).

Click to expand...

"Trade does not have anything to do with labor?

If your definition of "trade" involves products that require land, labor and capital, why is capital given rights labor is not?

When trade agreements like NAFTA dump tons of US taxpayer subsidized corn on Mexican markets it puts millions of Mexican farmers out of work with few places to find a job except in the US.

BTW, rises in the prices of public utilities and gasoline have more to do with privatization of utilities (see Enron) and speculation in oil futures by the same Wall Street parasites who crashed the global economy in 2008 than with migrants taking minimum wage jobs in California.

That's simple to figure out George. If the illegals were not here then police wouldn't have this problem of illegals not coming forward to report crimes against other illegal immigrants.

As for capitalism crossing borders, that's simple also. Trade does not have anything to do with labor. Trade for products made in mexico to come to the U.S. and be sold are set up in trade agreements with the U.S. . Trade capitalism is for manufactured products to be sold and not people.

Labor consists of people doing the work to produce the manufactured product for wages. Trade capitalism has absolutely nothing to do with labor. If you have a problem understanding this you may want to go talk to some black U.S. citizens that are decendants of people that were used for trade labor.

P.S. We also don't know who is coming into the U.S. and the overflow of people creates demand that hasn't been met causing consumer prices to to rise especially with public utilities and gasoline. (Illegals still drive without a license and very few compared to the illegal population in the U.S. get busted).

Click to expand...

"Trade does not have anything to do with labor?

If your definition of "trade" involves products that require land, labor and capital, why is capital given rights labor is not?

When trade agreements like NAFTA dump tons of US taxpayer subsidized corn on Mexican markets it puts millions of Mexican farmers out of work with few places to find a job except in the US.

BTW, rises in the prices of public utilities and gasoline have more to do with privatization of utilities (see Enron) and speculation in oil futures by the same Wall Street parasites who crashed the global economy in 2008 than with migrants taking minimum wage jobs in California.

Click to expand...

WHAT! After reading you post George I'm really thinking that the education level in the U.S. has fallen, very heavily in the areas of business and politics.

I agree with you about NAFTA but I don't like NAFTA for different reasons. My dislike of NAFTA is due to it's an open door for U.S. businesses to outsource jobs to foreign countries and send the manufactured products back to the U.S. without import taxes and tariffs. The outsourcing of jobs means less money in the pockets of U.S. citizens and less job opportunities.

As for rises in prices, no, rises in prices is not due to privatization. Rises in prices are due to demand and greedy businessmen jacking up prices to increase their profit margins and stuff money into their own pockets when demand is through the roof due to massive immigration. When demand goes up corporations can charge whatever they please. Public utility costs are up due to demand and the enviromentalists not letting new resources be built to meet the demand the illegals are putting on the U.S. economy.

Please George, don't lay that communist government can run things better and bring down prices. The communism you are hinting at just doesn't get it.

The problem in the U.S. is democrats let in to many illegals and legal immigrants to profit off of and now there's millions upon millions of them here in the U.S. driving up demand and getting consumer loans on homes and cars.

When demand goes up over supply prices sky rocket. When prices sky rocket people stop spending money and the economy collaspes. Communism won't correct this, communism will just keep people broke because the government will take all the money.

Useful Searches

About USMessageBoard.com

USMessageBoard.com was founded in 2003 with the intent of allowing all voices to be heard. With a wildly diverse community from all sides of the political spectrum, USMessageBoard.com continues to build on that tradition. We welcome everyone despite political and/or religious beliefs, and we continue to encourage the right to free speech.

Come on in and join the discussion. Thank you for stopping by USMessageBoard.com!